Introduction

The authors of Distance education: a systems view, Michael G. Moore and Greg Kearsley, briefly introduce to us the differences between distance teaching and classroom teaching in chapter 7, Teaching and Tutoring. Which one is more effective than the other one and why? In addition, these authors write about three types of interaction that is pertinent to distance education. Marina Stock McIsaac and Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena also address these interactions in the Handbook of research for educational communications and technology: a project of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. When looking at particular distance education classes, what are these interactions, what are their importance, how do the interactions fit into a particular course, and which one(s) are most important to the student and why?

Distance Teaching v. Classroom Teaching

For the teacher, distance teaching is more of a challenge than the routine of face-to-face confrontations. One reason is that there is usually a delay of some sort in communications. Although, some of the new technology now makes this reasoning just a bit obsolete. There are sources such as chat, audio and video conferencing in real time, and email that helps eliminate the delay. However, the technology does not eliminate the confrontations, interviews, and individual instruction that often goes on in a formal classroom setting. A second reason that makes distance education more challenging for the teacher is that the teacher must be proficient at using the technology at hand. This means teachers must be extremely technology literate at what they are doing or the students can lose interest. This includes having the knowledge of how to act on camera or saying the right thing at the right time. The teacher must also be proficient at writing creatively and instructively.

For the student, the worst time is at the beginning of the course. It is at the beginning that students may drop out. Whereas, in classroom settings, the student may drop out later because of academic reasons. In distance education though, the student must feel welcome and supported by the teacher as well as other students. It is important that everyone gets to know everyone else before the actual participation begins. It is important too, that the student try out the technology while the teacher is there to help.

From the administrative view, distance teaching often involves more people. There is a hierarchy for each course. Besides the teacher and the student, there is technical support, management, and other support staff involved.

Some students tend to do better with distance education than the traditional learning. One reason may be that some people are better at communicating in other ways instead of the face-to-face contact. Another reason may be that the factor of intimidation from other students is lower. It is easier to ignore something written by that person that always gets an 'A' than it is to hear it. It is also easier for the student to work at their own pace and their own hours. Some people learn better when they are forced to construct their own knowledge of things rather than someone lecturing at them. Distance education makes students figure things out for themselves. Thus, in these ways, it would appear that the distance technique is more effective.

Interactions

Moore and Kearsley state that there are three types of interactions in distance learning (p. 127). First, learner-content interaction is the interaction between the student and the written text. The written text in this case includes the standard textbook, "radio and television broadcasts and by electronic recordings on audio- or videotape, and computer software, with interactive multimedia (videodisc, CD-ROM) being the most advanced technology for content interaction invented so far (Dede, 1990)" (p. 129). In the 1990s now, the Internet is highly interactive. The second type of interaction is learner-instructor. In distance learning, this is most often done by written correspondence or video/audio conferencing. In today's technology, most of this interaction is carried out via email or software packages such as FirstClass. For some students, this may seem more personal than face-to-face. There is no tone of voice or facial expressions to be seen and heard. The third interaction is learner-learner. Students interact with their peers. In the traditional classroom, this can be evidenced by group work. In distance education, this is evidenced with conferencing discussions and chat rooms. It is important that all three of these interactions take place in distance education.

McIsaac and Gunawardena mention research that has been done on a fourth type of interaction (http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/dechapter/theory.htm). This is learner-interface interaction. As related to technology and distance education, the learner must first figure out the technology before anything takes place. For example, in order to use computer related DE the learner must be nearly proficient in using the operating system and other software. It is usually recommended that the learner be proficient at downloading, file transfer, and word processing. If the learner is comfortable with a computer, the learner should not need to spend most of the time figuring out how to use the software for the distance education course.

If any of these interactions are missing from a given course, then that course suffers from what might be called incompetence. These interactions are what gives meaning and fulfillment to the distance learner and the teacher. Without these, there has been no learning.

Research

PA 573 - Computer Applications in Public Administration (http://hcl.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa573/) is offered by Professor Dave Garson at North Carolina State University. This site is Java activated, the banner is always doing something (very unnerving and distracting), many graphics, and it takes a long time to download on a modem. The learner-content interaction involves the Internet, a textbook on HTML, and proprietary software. The learner-instructor interaction is primarily constructed with e-mail. There is personal email with the instructor and a class email listserv moderated by the instructor. The learner-learner interaction is set-up with the class email listserv. In the syllabus, the professor states that class attendance is not necessary for distance education students. However, it seems that there may not be much personal learner-instructor interaction taking place for the distance education student. The learner-interface interaction phase would seem to dictate that there should be a pre-requisite on this course that requires general knowledge of computing. The professor warns on the syllabus that connecting to this class with a modem may not be the best way to take the class, thus, the implication for general computing knowledge. These interactions appear to be of importance due to the nature of the class. To the student, the most important interaction may the learner-learner and learner-interface. The more the student understands computing, the better, and peer learning might be prevalent in this course.

Brad Day of the "two year transfer oriented" Gainesville College in Georgia offers Political Science 101 - American Government online (http://troy.gc.peachnet.edu/www/bday/default.htm). The learner-content interaction consists of two textbooks and heavy Internet usage since Mr. Day uses various online newspapers, journalistic sites, and government resources. He throws in some comic relief with Letterman's Top Ten. The learner-instructor interaction appears that it may be typical classroom related activities since there is a lecture schedule. This has the markings of a classroom instruction class with the Internet being used as an aid. Mr. Day does make his hours and email readily available. Hence, the learner-learner interaction consists of the day-to-day interaction in class. This is a summer class so there is no prolonged interaction between students. As far as learner-interface interaction goes, the only ability required would be email and Internet usage. There is no software required. This class was listed as distance education in the World Lecture Hall (http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/). However, the visitor to this site might wonder why.

Conclusion

After examining the literature published online and in print about distance teaching v. classroom teaching, one would answer the question "which is more effective than the other one and why" as it really depends on the individual student; what are the student's learning abilities and how does the student learn the best?

When looking at particular distance education classes, what are these interactions, what are their importance, how do the interactions fit into a particular course, and which one(s) are most important to the student and why? The research shows that like the different student's abilities and such, the answers to these questions depend on the class, the professor, the unit sponsoring the class, and possibly the school offering the class.

References

Garson, Dave. (1998). Computer applications in Public Administration [WWW Document]. URL http://hcl.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa573/

McIsaac, Marina Stock., and Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena. (1996). Distance Education [WWW Document]. URL http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/dechapter/

Moore, Michael G., and Greg Kearsley. (1996). Distance education: a systems view. Wadsworth Publishing.

The World Lecture Hall. (1998) World Lecture Hall [WWW Document] URL http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/